The brief is to produce a 20second animation as part of a campaign by ‘The Copyright Protection Agency’ to warn users about the dangers/laws of illegally downloading media from the internet. The targets are specifically users who download illegally using Peer2Peer software.
P2P is an application that allows users to share specific files and folders with other P2P users. The software was designed for innocent usage but nowadays the files ‘shared’ are copyrighted media like MP3’s, video, software etc.
As you can imagine consumers that only consume and neglect to put anything back have a detrimental effect on whatever industry they are stealing from. Yes, I said it, stealing! The Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America recently stated that piracy costs the industry around $250 billion a year and in the UK nearly £500 million! (A piss in the ocean in comparison) The comparison is reflective to the level of action America’s government have taken on the issue. They have set up agencies to tackle internet piracy. One that has proved most successful is The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
“On September 8, 2003, the recording industry sued 261 American music fans for sharing songs on peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks, kicking off an unprecedented legal campaign against its own customers. The recording industry has now filed, settled, or threatened legal actions against well over 28,000 individuals, and there is no end in sight. While the strategy of forcing ordinary music fans to pay thousands of dollars to avoid even bigger RIAA-member lawsuits is itself troubling, many innocent individuals are also being caught in the crossfire.”
But what is Britain’s answer to tackle internet piracy? Well there have been rumours circulating about illegal downloader’s being tracked to their Internet service providers (ISP) and the ISP being responsible for taking action against the illegal downloader with ‘punishments’ like slowing your bandwidth or cutting you off totally.
“Business Secretary Lord Mandelson is calling for tougher penalties for illegal downloader’s, including fining the parents of children caught illegally file swapping and calls for Ofcom to track and warn the owners of computers being used in illegal downloading activities. Those that continue to offend would have their internet access slowed or blocked, while some could face fines of up to £50,000.”
Well, shit, man, better stop illegally downloading things! I feel a total hypocrite attempting to discourage illegal downloads. I’m going to be totally honest. I have and probably will continue to download media, illegally. You do too… don’t lie.
Ive realised that ‘I’ am my target audience I need to aim towards. Not only do I understand and practise P2P software I can also aim my message towards “what would change MY attitude on illegally downloading?”
Its a very hard argument to defend. "You, person, spend money on that thing you can get for free. Go on, go to town, into HMV, shuffle around, spend £13 a DVD, watch it, probably feel a little ripped off then put it in your collection for someone to then borrow and you never see again."
Dont get me wrong I do buy originals, normally films Ive already seen, ones that I know I'll like. I dont think it makes sense to buy things you dont know if your going to like.
There be howlers out there...
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